Set Designer

Opera Philadelphia proudly presents the American premiere of "The Listeners," a thrilling new opera with music by Missy Mazzoli and libretto by Royce Vavrek. This captivating work, based on an original story by Jordan Tannahill, is performed in English with English supertitles and explores the seductive power of cults and charismatic leaders in a divided nation. The opera delves into the lengths Americans are willing to go to find a sense of place and purpose, and how confident, charming leaders can exploit these needs.

Set in a southwestern U.S. suburb, "The Listeners" follows a middle-class mother, soprano Nicole Heaston in her company debut, who notices a mysterious hum that only a select few can hear. As a community organization forms to investigate, meetings led by the de facto leader Kevin Burdette take on a cult-like atmosphere, leading to a potentially destructive path.

The opera is scheduled for performances at the Academy of Music on Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m., Friday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 29 at 2:00 p.m. The runtime is approximately 2 hours and 23 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.

"The Listeners" is a co-commission and co-production with Norwegian National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season's production is supported by the Artistry Now Matching Fund, Barbara Augusta Teichert, and major support from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program.

The cast and creative team feature Corrado Rovaris as conductor, Lileana Blain-Cruz as director, and a talented ensemble including Troy Cook, Lindsey Reynolds, Kevin Burdette, Aaron Crouch, and many more, bringing this powerful story to life.

Don't miss the opportunity to experience this groundbreaking opera that examines the sound of a divided nation through the lens of an extraordinary musical and theatrical journey.

EPSG:4326

The Listeners

Academy of Music

Passion and politics collide in this star-studded production of Mozart’s rarely performed work. Against the backdrop of a raging war, the King of Pontus must put his family’s loyalty to the test. With a bristling score written by Mozart at the age of 14, Mitridate explores the tension of family ties amidst jealousy, aging, betrayal, and desire.

Mitridate, re di Ponto

Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre

Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.

El Niño

Lincoln Center

With inclusion on several reviewer’s “best of the decade” lists when it was released including those of Paste, NPR, and Rolling Stone, Sufjan Stevens‘s acclaimed 2005 concept album Illinois enjoys cult status for its lush orchestrations and wildly inventive portrayal of the state’s people, landscapes, and history, complete with UFOs, zombies, and predatory wasps. This musically ambitious work, which weaves together cinematic orchestral anthems, jazz riffs, and other musical influences to explore wide-ranging narratives about blossoming queerness and self-exploration is expanded upon through a mix of live music and impressionistic choreography to revisit the beloved album’s themes of self-discovery.

Illinoise

Park Avenue Armory

Directed by LBO’s Artistic Director and visionary James Darrah, George Frideric Handel’s glorious music and surprisingly relevant drama re-emerges as a site specific, cinematically driven, wildy raucous contemporary party. A story of ill-fated romance, long lost familial relationships and conquerors and their captors, LBO’s GIUSTINO will elevate the ambiguities of gender already present in baroque opera and examine how stereotypes can be shattered even in the most traditional stories. Darrah’s breakthrough stylistic hybrid of cinema-theater recontextualizes the salon-like qualities of Handel’s 18th century work to a transitory, temporal space, further challenging the current norms of 21st century classical music consumption.

The libretto and score will be taken apart and reassembled by Darrah, conductor Christopher Rountree, and exciting young composer Shelley Washington, and will be performed with both authentic baroque specialists as well as contemporary musical and dramatic updates. The action of the scenes will move amongst the audience and to different parts of the location, and will be live-filmed to create a movie within an opera playing at all times. And just as spectators did during the time of Handel, the audience will be encouraged to truly revel in the decadence and transcendence of Handel’s glorious music without the trappings of traditional, staid classical music performances.

Adam Rigg

Set Designer

Events

Past events

25 - 29 Sep, 2024

The Listeners · Opera Philadelphia

13 - 15 Sep, 2024

Mitridate, re di Ponto · Boston Lyric Opera

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